


Wait and See Empathy

by magicites



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, M/M, Post-Kingdom Hearts III, Subarashiki Kono Sekai | The World Ends With You Spoilers, background shiki/eri, but Ven doesn't understand that game at all so you don't have to either, ennui, the one where Vanitas is adopted by the TWEWY crew
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-21
Updated: 2019-08-12
Packaged: 2020-07-09 19:47:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19893340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magicites/pseuds/magicites
Summary: Months after Xehanort’s war, life has finally settled down. Nobody thinks of the adversaries they faced in the Keyblade Graveyard, least of all the boy in the mask.Nobody except Ven.Until the day Sora finally comes back, bringing news of a world of Players, of life-or-death games, and of the darkness he befriended. Vanitas is alive, he says, and not only that, he’s happy.Ven has got to see this for himself.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> twewy is one of my favorite games ever, neku sakuraba is my #1 son, the sonniest of all my sons, and shiki misaki is not my #1 daughter but she sure is up here, and 50% of this fic is just me wanting them to be friends with my gremlin-iest son. and while i ADORE post kh3 fix it fics where ven helps redeem vanitas the other 50% of this is me exploring a dynamic where ven not only has nothing to do with vanitas's redemption, but has to actively fight for vanitas's attention
> 
> i'm not thinking too hard about anything in this so neither should you. 
> 
> this will probably update like once a week? maybe? that's the goal. and while i do adore comments i don't think i'll reply to the ones on this fic! this is going to be a mystery for everyone involved. including me. especially me.

Life after the war is quiet. Just as quiet as life used to be, before the day Xehanort ruined Terra and Aqua’s exam and Vanitas sent Ven on a wild chase through the worlds.

Nine months is more than enough time for everyone to settle back into their old routines. The Land of Departure will never be what it was back when Master Eraqus stewarded it, but Ven’s grown used to the way that Aqua cares for the castle. She guards it more fiercely. She’s quicker to solve its problems.

She’s also more reluctant to send Terra off-world, and yet much less reluctant when it comes to letting Ven go where he pleases.

They used to talk about the war, in the first few months after the dust settled and after Sora disappeared.

They don’t anymore.

Ven isn’t sure if Terra and Aqua still think of what they went through. While Aqua lived as the only light in the Realm of Darkness for an entire decade and while Terra fought Xehanort’s control, all Ven ever did was dream. Neither of them look any older, but Ven can hear their age reflected in the way they talk now. It’s heavier in a way he can’t really explain.

It’s not that Ven doesn’t feel any older. It’s that he _isn’t_ any older. Seeing his friends grow up without him - not just Aqua and Terra, but Lea, Isa, even Sora - only makes that fact stand out more starkly. He feels like less than a year ago, he was facing down Vanitas within the confines of their stitched-together heart.

He thinks of that battle often. No matter how often Ven turns it over in his mind - which he does, all the time - he’s never any closer to understanding Vanitas. They couldn’t have been closer than they were in that moment, sharing their literal selves, and yet the unmasked boy who wore nothing but despair when the X-blade drifted out of his grasp remains a stranger.

Ven also thinks of their second showdown in the Keyblade Graveyard. The Vanitas that Ven squared off against the day his heart shattered seemed worlds away from the one there. That Vanitas seemed resigned to his fate, passive in a way that didn’t align with what Ven thought he knew. 

Ven accepted his answer, only because he didn’t know what else to do.

He doesn’t think of Vanitas every day. Most days, yeah, but not every single day. Not enough to be a distraction, just something that he ruminates on while doing chores or going through solo techniques or late at night when he’s peering at the stars through his telescope, wondering if Vanitas ever visited a world that Ven didn’t. 

Ven never brings up these thoughts to anyone else, not even the little Chirithy that follows him everywhere he goes. 

He doesn’t know how.

* * *

Ven used to not know his real birthday. Chirithy knows and has since told him, but it didn’t change anything. He still celebrates it on the anniversary of his arrival at the Land of Departure - the day that Ven, _this_ Ven, became who he is now.

He spends his seventeenth birthday with his friends, gathered from so many different worlds to celebrate their relationships in the land he still calls home. He plays games with Lea, chats with Xion about how her own Keyblade apprenticeship is faring, and tries not to comment on how forced Kairi’s smile looks now that Riku’s been off searching for Sora for months. 

Aqua makes the most delicious cake while Terra makes the most amazing dinner for everyone to share.

He wonders if Vanitas has ever celebrated a birthday. What would he consider his birthday, even? The day they were created, or the day _he_ was created? Ven has no clue.

So many thoughts and no idea how to express any of them.

They play more games after they eat. Ven loses every single one, cards and sports alike. 

“You seem distracted,” Chirithy says quietly, crawling up to his shoulder to whisper in his ear. He’s not the Ven that it first bonded to and they both know it. Still, it stays with him. Maybe because it has nowhere else to go. “Are you all right?”

Ven plasters a cheery smile on his face. “I’m great! Just thinking.”

"Do you want to talk about it?”

Ven watches Aqua win another round of cards against Lea and Isa. He wonders if Vanitas ever learned how to play card games, or who he would even play with. Xehanort didn’t seem the type to like… well. Fun.

“Really, it’s nothing,” Ven says.

* * *

Two days later, Sora comes back.

It seems like every star in the sky celebrates his return.

Kairi hosts a massive party back on Destiny Islands and invites people from what seems to be every single world in existence. Ven’s too used to relative isolation to deal with a crowd this large. He lingers on the edge of the play island, content to chat with Chirithy and wait until the party dies down and he can breathe again.

He eats an ice cream that Roxas passed off to him before pushing through the crowd to find his Somebody and watches the sun set over the waves. It’s beautiful. This world is so full of peace.

Footsteps crunch on sand, prompting Ven’s attention towards whoever comes by to join him. Sora plops down at his side, the star of the night finally slipping away for some quiet.

They sit in the exact same way, Ven notices. Another connection.

Sora doesn’t look a minute older than Ven remembers. That’s a connection, too.

“Tired of your own party?” Ven asks.

Sora chuckles. “I’ll go back soon. Aqua said you were here. I wanted to find you.”

Ven twists to face him. “What’s up?”

“Kairi said I’ve been gone for almost a year. I believe her, but I don’t feel any different,” Sora explains. “I thought you might understand that.”

“I do.” Ven says. “Hard to believe it’s been nine whole months.”

“Nine months isn’t a long time for someone like you, Ven,” Chirithy reminds him quietly. It crawls into his lap and he holds it tight. He doesn’t remember the past it tells him about, not really, but he believes it. He has no reason not to.

“I really do get it,” Ven repeats. “Not much has changed here. All I ever do these days is train. Exactly like I did before I went to sleep.”

“That’s what a lot of people have said. Makes me kinda glad. I don’t feel like I missed out on much.”

“You didn’t. What about you, Sora? What happened to you after you disappeared?” He knows Sora must have told this story a thousand times tonight. He’s grateful that Sora doesn’t look upset when he asks.

If anything, he looks embarrassed. Sora chuckles, scratching the back of his head. “I may have been dead for a little while there.”

“What!?” Ven shouts, shock freezing him in place. Even Chirithy seems shocked, its entire attention focused on Sora. 

Sora instantly sits up, waving his hands frantically. “It’s not that big of a deal, really!” he says. “I’m one-hundred percent alive now, promise!”

“That’s not possible!” Chirithy says, wriggling out of Ven’s arms. “Once you go past the Final World, there’s no coming back! Ever!”

“It’s possible in Shibuya!” Sora protests.

“In Shibuya?” Chirithy repeats, the frantic energy leaving its body. It touches its chin thoughtfully. Ven wishes he felt the same. “I see… but how did you get there? The Game is only for the people of that world, and no one’s allowed in there.”

Sora chuckles sheepishly. “I have a friend there. A few friends, actually.”

“You don’t mean… _him?”_ There’s a gravity in Chirithy’s whisper that is completely lost on Ven.

He tries his hardest to follow along with their conversation, but so much of what they say flies right over his head. Something about noise, and composers, and a game whose rules make absolutely no sense to Ven. 

He quickly gives up on trying to understand, content to let Chirithy and Sora continue talking without him. He stares back off in the distance, somehow less surprised that Sora was able to die and come back to life than he thinks he should be. Sora’s always been special. Everyone who has ever met him knows that.

He tunes back in when Chirithy settles back in his lap and Sora looks out to the sunset, too. “I really missed watching sunsets on the islands. Shibuya’s full of these huge buildings. It’s never the same there.”

“Bigger than even San Fransokyo?” Ven asks,

“Way bigger.” Sora’s smile turns a little melancholy. “I kept telling Vanitas he had to come watch an island sunset with me at least once. I think he’d like it here.”

There it is.

The same name that has haunted Ven’s mind for almost a year, spoken aloud. And not only spoken aloud, but by someone who isn’t Ven. 

Ven’s reaction is instantaneous: his hands find their way to Sora’s shoulders, gripping tightly enough to make him wince. Chirithy hops out of Ven’s lap with a protest, but Ven pays it no mind. 

“Vanitas?” Ven demands. “Is he still alive? Where? In Shibuya?” His mind races. All this time, all the possibilities he’s thought of, and-

“-Ven, it’s okay! He’s not a bad guy anymore. He’s good!” Sora babbles, leaning away from Ven. His hands find Ven’s and pry them off his shoulders, much gentler than Ven’s own touch. “Breathe. You look like you’re about to pass out.”

Ven listens. He takes in a ragged gasp, suddenly realizing that Sora’s right. Hearing Vanitas’s name was enough to knock the wind out of his chest, like he had been hit with Void Gear itself. He forces down a few more lungfuls of air before trying to speak again.

When he does try, every word he thinks of catches in his throat, all vying for attention. He has too many questions and no idea where to start. Maybe it’s the connection he has to Sora that spares him from trying to have to sort his muddled thoughts out. 

“Weird, right?” Sora says. “But it’s true. The Game we played has to be played by partners, and Vanitas was mine. I didn’t want to trust him at first, not after fighting him In Monstropolis and the Keyblade Graveyard like I did, but a good friend of mine once told me to trust my partner. So I did.” He smiles out at the sunset. “I wouldn’t have been able to make it through without Vanitas. Riku brought me home, but Vanitas saved my life.”

Ven gathers his thoughts enough to ask a question. “Is he alive, too?”

Sora taps his chin and hums. “I think? I don’t really get it. You’d have to ask him.”

That settles it. 

Ven gets to his feet and summons his armor. Sora jerks back at the sudden burst of light. “How do I get to Shibuya from here?” Ven asks. 

Sora blinks rapidly, trying to clear his vision. When he stops, a grin overtakes his face. “Whoa! Your armor is awesome!” he says.

From behind his helmet, Ven grins back. “Right? But really. Which way do I go?”

Chirithy hops over to Ven’s armored boot and taps it insistently. “Ven, you can’t get to Shibuya! It’s on the edge of all the worlds. Almost as far as the Final World! Nobody can go there without passing through death first. And if you pass through death… then there’s no guarantee you’ll ever come back.”

“Riku did,” Ven says. “If he can, why can’t I?”

“Let your heart be your guiding key!” Sora repeats happily. Chirithy stills at the phrase, unable to protest the same thing it tells Ven all the time. It’s an important phrase, Ven knows that much, and while it feels familiar he can’t fully remember why. Everything before his arrival at the Land of Departure, save for when Vanitas was created, remains a blur.

Maybe Vanitas remembers.

“Oh, when you get there, talk to a guy named Joshua.” Sora adds. “Tell him you’re my friend. That should help you out!”

“Thanks!”

“Tell Vanitas I said hi, too! Good luck, Ven!”

Ven laughs at the possibility of even having a halfway decent conversation with Vanitas. Sora’s much more upbeat than he is. Much more willing to believe in the good in people.

But if Sora believes, then Ven’s willing to take a gamble.

He summons his Keyblade, points Wayward Wind to the sun, and leaves for the world past death.

* * *

An impossible barrier surrounds the world at the edge of all words. It’s a sprawling city, much more complex than even San Fransokyo. Just like Sora said.

All it takes to get through is Sora’s name. The next thing Ven knows, his armor is gone and he’s on his feet in the middle of a giant crossing. Streams of people, more than he’s ever seen in his life, go all around him, pushing him in every direction. 

He can’t breathe.

Not knowing where to go, he picks a random direction and walks as fast as he can.

The crowds are too much for him. He runs until he’s far out of the crossing and down an alleyway. A giant record tower looms over him, but the flow of people here is nothing more than a trickle. Ven takes a deep, gasping breath, his heart pounding in his chest.

The sooner he can find Vanitas, the sooner he can get out of here. Maybe… maybe he should have asked Sora where exactly Vanitas was before setting out. He has no idea where to start looking.

He picks a direction at random and heads out, escaping out from under the tower’s shadow. As the sun hits his skin, a voice reaches his ears.

It sends a shiver down his spine. He can’t tell if it’s a good or bad one.

“Never thought I’d see you here, Ventus.”

Ven spins around to face the voice’s owner. 

Clad in an oversized black hoodie with intricate white patterns trailing down the sleeves that casts whatever eyes are watching Ven in shadow, a pair of baggy green pants, and a red bandana over his mouth, is him.

Vanitas.


	2. Chapter 2

Vanitas’s laugh is just as unhinged as Ven remembers. He’s played it over and over in his mind too many times to ever forget that chilling cadence. The sound of his nightmares and daydreams alike.

Vanitas pulls down his hoodie, revealing a head of spiky black hair that no longer looks quite like Sora’s. Vanitas’s is longer, more untamed. Gold eyes don’t stare at him, but ruby red. Ven’s not sure how to read his expression, not with his mouth covered the way it is. Is he amused? Upset? What?

“The first day off I get in nine months, and of course  _ you _ show up,” Vanitas says, capped off with a laugh of disbelief.

Vanitas stays in place, but Ven knows he plays dirty. He falls into a defensive stance. He doesn’t summon his Keyblade, but he leaves his hand outstretched. Just in case. “How did you know I was here?” 

“Twelve years and you’re just as much of an idiot as ever,” Vanitas says dryly, rolling his eyes. That… that doesn’t make sense. It hasn’t even been a year. Time passes differently between the worlds, but there can’t be that much of a discrepancy, can there?

“We’re connected, remember?” Vanitas continues. “Two halves of what used to be the same heart. I can feel what you feel. This world is pretty good at blocking outside influences, but I sensed you the moment you stepped foot here.”

Ven almost wishes that connection went both ways. If it did, maybe then he wouldn’t have to feel so lost. He focuses instead on the part that doesn’t make sense, no matter how much he tries to force it to. “It hasn’t been twelve years,” Ven says. “Has it?”

“From my perspective? Yes. From yours?” Vanitas pauses, considering something. “I guess not. Sora did say the old man dragged a version of me from the past to face you.”

“A… version of you?” Ven’s head spins.

“Didn’t realize you picked up a stowaway when you shattered your own heart, huh Ventus? You never were the smartest student.”

“Do you have to be such a jerk!?” Ven snaps. Wayward Wind appears in his hand. He doesn’t get what’s going on, feeling even more lost than he did when Sora first told him the news. Vanitas is being obtuse on purpose to get a rise out of him, like he always did before.

What Ven does get is fighting. It’s the only language he and Vanitas have ever shared.

“Did you really come all the way here just to fight me?” Vanitas laughs again. “That’s rich.”

Despite people passing all around them, no one bats an eye at his Keyblade. Is Vanitas doing something to make them ignore them? He looks around briefly, trying to catch any stranger’s eye. Trying to disrupt whatever spell Vanitas has cast over the area.

“Confused, Ventus?” Ven hates how Vanitas says his name. He always has. “Newsflash - this is Shibuya. People care about trends and art, not some random kid with a big key. You’ll have to do more than swing that thing around to get people to notice you.”

Ven glares at Vanitas, waiting for him to attack. Waiting for himself to be provoked, at the very least. That’s what Vanitas does, right? He provokes and he strikes when people are down. He’s cruel and petty. 

Sora says he’s good, though. That Vanitas saved his life.

Ven dismisses his Keyblade. He may not trust Vanitas, but he trusts Sora. 

“That’s better,” Vanitas says.

“I thought you died,” Ven says. “How are you here?”

“Weren’t you listening earlier?” Vanitas sighs. “I’ll spell it out for you. You slept in Sora’s heart.  _ I  _ slept in Sora’s heart, so deep that no dive inside his heart could sense me. When Sora died, I died. When Sora ended up here, I ended up here with him. We won the game, he went back, and I got a new job. Make sense?”

Ven still feels like he’s drowning in questions. “I guess,” Ven mutters.

“Here’s a question for you. Why are  _ you _ here?” Vanitas asks, folding his arms over his chest. He practically drowns in his hoodie. “If you’re looking for a fight to see who’s the stronger half, I’m not interested. I have better things to do than waste my energy on someone as useless as you.”

And if that isn’t the biggest change, Ven doesn’t know what would be. He was obsessed with fighting before. What changed? “I was never interested in fighting you,” Ven shoots back. 

Vanitas scoffs, knowing that’s not a real answer to his question. Frowning, Ven tries to figure out the answer. He’s not entirely sure if he knows himself. Once he found out about Vanitas, he didn’t even think about anything else. He just came to find him. He had to. “I… don’t know,” Ven admits.

“Some things never change, do they,” Vanitas says. He looks ready to insult Ven more, but he stops at the sound of a girl’s voice calling his name. His head whips towards the direction of the sound, his bandana falling down around his neck as he moves.

“Vanitas! Found you!” A small, mousey girl comes into view, clutching a stuffed cat to her chest. She practically drowns in an oversized green cardigan tossed over a pair of black leggings. She doubles over panting right at Vanitas’s side, oblivious to the growing grin that stretches across his face. 

Ven freezes. The grin Vanitas directs towards her isn’t malicious, nothing at all like nearly every expression he’s ever seen on Vanitas’s face. A complete opposite from what he must have directed towards Ven.

The grin Ven sees now is fond. 

“Shiki Misaki,  _ running? _ Now I’ve seen it all,” Vanitas comments. Shiki wheezes out a laugh and gently shoves him, making him chuckle as well.

It isn’t malicious at all. It’s warm, sending another shiver down Ven’s spine. 

He’s more lost than ever, unable to do anything but stand there and watch the interaction unfolding in front of him like a complete moron. He kind of deserves any insults Vanitas throws his way.

“Sure you have,” Shiki says. She straightens up, pushing a pair of oversized glasses back up her nose. Her eyes are green and the smile on her lips is reflected easily in them. “Maybe I can’t run, but I have better hand-eye coordination than you’ll ever have in your  _ life.” _

“Point taken,” Vanitas says. “Let me guess - Neku sent you to search for me because I’m late for lunch, aren’t I?”

“Late again,” Shiki corrects him. Her tiny hand grabs his wrist. “Let’s go. Neku already ordered for you. We need to get back before your ramen gets soggy.”

“Got it,” Vanitas says, turning his attention back to Ven. It’s like he exists again, dragged back into a picture he had no business being in. For the first time, Shiki notices him, regarding him curiously. “Looks like I have a life to get back to. Don’t you?”

With that, Vanitas leaves at a brisk pace, shaking his wrist free from the girl’s grasp. She has to jog at his side to keep up.

Before they’re out of earshot, Ven’s able to catch one more piece of their exchange.

“Did I interrupt something?” Shiki asks, sounding more than a little guilty.

“Not at all,” Vanitas replies.

He leaves Ven in the dust, like he never even mattered at all.

* * *

Ven wanders the city in a daze, though he’s careful to avoid the more crowded parts. Too many people make him feel like he’s suffocating, waiting for something terrible to unfold. 

His mind reels from his encounter with Vanitas, trying to pull apart every single word Ven heard. Whatever he may have expected coming here definitely wasn’t what he got. 

Sora said Vanitas chose to stay here. That he’s good now. He was far from good to Ven, but to that girl, Shiki? He was kind. Someone who clearly mattered to her, who she wasn’t afraid of. They were friends. Him, and her, and whoever Neku is. Maybe he even has more friends besides those two.

If Vanitas found people to care about, then maybe that’s the first thing Ven’s ever been able to truly understand about him.

Ven’s so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he doesn’t notice the person who stops in front of them until they physically collide. It’s not enough to send either one of them falling to the ground, but it’s more than enough to send Ven stumbling back with a yelp.

“Whoa! Sorry about that,” Ven says, taking a few deliberate steps back. “I was kind of spaced out.”

“I can see,” says the person in front of him, topped off with a strange giggle that itches at his nerves. The boy in front of him is thin, clad in plain clothes that somehow speak to a lot of money. His hair is somewhere between shaggy and fluffy, a shade bordering between gray and blonde and just long enough to fall past his eyes. Said eyes are purple, and they glitter in amusement. “You don’t look like you’re from around here. Visiting someone special, hmm?”

Ven immediately doesn’t like this guy, whoever he is. “Not someone special. Just someone.”

The boy giggles again. “Keep telling yourself that. Maybe one day it’ll come true.”

Ven has had enough of rude jerks for one day. For one lifetime, probably. “What do you want?” he snaps.

“A little birdie told me you and I may have mutual friends, stranger,” the boy says. “By any chance, do you know someone named Sora? About ye tall,” he lifts his hand a little higher over both their heads, “brown hair, able to befriend anything and everything?”

The pieces click together in Ven’s mind. “Are you Joshua?”

The boy - Joshua - smirks. “That’s what my friends call me, at least. I guess you can call me that, too.”

Ven takes a deep breath. This guy may be a jerk, but if he’s Sora’s friend, then he deserves a chance. He’s still reeling from encountering Vanitas, anyways. That must be coloring his view of this guy. “I’m Ventus. Call me Ven.”

“Very well, Ven. Nice to meet you,” he says. “If you’re looking for Sora, I’m afraid he’s long gone. Didn’t care to stay in my beautiful Shibuya.”

“Oh, I wasn’t looking for Sora. But… I guess I was here because of Sora. Partially,” Ven says, stumbling over his words. 

Joshua raises an eyebrow, intrigued. “Oh?”

Might as well be honest. “I was… looking for someone. Someone who I’ve thought about a lot. A, uh, friend of Sora’s. Sora said he’d be here.”

Joshua nods. “I think we may have two mutual friends, then. This mystery boy - is his name Neku, by any chance?”

The boy Shiki mentioned. Ven shakes his head.

“Beat, maybe?”

Ven shakes his head again.

Joshua hums, his smirk growing wider. Ven realizes he hasn’t stopped smirking the entire time they’ve talked. This guy is definitely weird. “Can’t be Riku, since I know he was never supposed to stick around here. It’s Vanitas, isn’t it?”

Slowly, Ven nods.

“He’s an interesting guy. I like him.”

Ven scoffs. “Wish I could say the same.” Something else occurs to him in that moment. “There was a girl, too. Shiki, I think? She said their friends were getting ramen. If you’re also their friend, then why aren’t you there?”

That makes the smirk drop. Ven goes to apologize, but Joshua cuts him off with a raised hand. “Let’s just say that there’s a lot of history between us. It’s not as easy as meeting up for ramen whenever I’d like.”

“Huh.”

“Huh, indeed.” Buzzing fills the air, something shaking from within Joshua’s pocket. With a frown, he pulls out an orange flip phone and checks the ID on the tiny display screen. “Ugh. I have to take this.” He glances up to Ven. “Perhaps I’ll see you around?”

“Uh… yeah,” Ven says slowly. “Maybe.”

Joshua raises a hand - the cool kid’s goodbye. “Until then.” He finally answers the call and turns away, his voice going from that strange giggling lilt to something flat. “Yeah.”

Ven lets him be. 

Strangely enough, he does feel a little better. He doesn’t have much more clarity than before, but at least the story is true. Vanitas has friends. He’s happy here, doing whatever it is he’s doing. He’s alive.

He’s not whoever Ven thought he was.

Then… who is he, really? Does Ven know? Does Ven  _ want _ to know? 

Whatever the answer to that question, he won’t find it by sticking around here any longer.

With no real reason to stay, Ven heads back home.


	3. Chapter 3

Ven’s weeks have fallen into a routine, slightly modified from the one he remembers. Six days on, one day off. One of the six days on is a physical rest day, which means that he spends all day studying instead of fighting. The others alternate between physical training and whatever lessons Aqua thinks he needs to learn. 

Terra follows a similar schedule, but everything he does is more advanced. He chooses his own subjects to study. Aqua never hesitates to use her strongest techniques when they spar. The only reason why Aqua hasn’t named him a Master yet is because he doesn’t think he deserves the title.

Ven still has a ways to go, according to her. Chirithy bristles every time it hears that, but Ven doesn’t really care. Becoming a Master doesn’t excite him the way it used to. If it takes a little longer, so what? It’s not like anything will really change once he does become one.

His life feels stagnant. The word feels more right than he wishes it did and he spends the whole week after he meets Vanitas thinking about it. The worst part is how it shows. His forms turn sloppy. His readings take twice the time they should. He’s distracted. They all know it.

It isn’t until Ven’s day off that Aqua finally brings it up.

A gentle knock taps against Ven’s closed bedroom door. “Is something the matter, Ven? You’ve been in your room all day,” Aqua’s voice is soft and kind, the same one she always uses whenever she thinks Ven’s having one of his moods. She says he’s not great at controlling his emotions, but that’s okay, because most people his age aren’t.

He wonders how much of that has to do with his connection to Vanitas.

He also wonders if any of Vanitas’s friends have said the same to him.

He’s done nothing today but sit at his desk, tearing through beloved book after book looking for some kind of comfort. So far all he’s found is frustration.

“I’m…” Ven trails off, unsure of how to respond. She’d be happy if he talked to her. She’s always overjoyed to listen. “I don’t know,” he says. “You can come in.”

Aqua opens the door and carefully steps in. She looks around before taking a seat on his bed, though she cranes her neck to look at the pile of books he’s left all over the place. “Taking a day to read?” she asks. 

“To distract myself,” Ven mutters.

“But it isn’t working,” Aqua guesses. She offers a sympathetic smile at his nod. “Want to talk about it?”

Ven sighs. He might as well, at this point. Before, all of his Vanitas thoughts were just that. Thoughts. He couldn’t do anything with them besides pick at the same memories he’d already dissected a hundred times before. Besides, he’d know what she would say. She’d tell him that there’s no need to think about Vanitas anymore, because they defeated him. Ven’s heart is safe once more.

Things are different now. “Aqua…” he begins, taking a deep breath. Just gotta rip off the bandaid. “Vanitas is alive.”

Stormfall comes to her hand instantly. “Has he hurt you?” Her voice is dark and low, laced with a barely suppressed rage. It’s one of the ways she’s changed from before. He never saw Anti-Aqua, but he’d imagine this is what she was like. Destructive and dangerous. 

“No, no! He hasn’t.” Maybe his feelings a little, but that doesn’t seem like the greatest thing to tell her right now. “That’s the thing. He’s not evil anymore.”

After a moment’s hesitation, Aqua lets Stormfall disappear. “What changed? Ven, where did you see him? Here?”

Ven shakes his head. “Sora mentioned him, so I went to go find him.” He makes a point to not look at Aqua when he says that. He doesn’t want to see how upset she must be. “He popped up out of nowhere five minutes after I landed. He was angry to see me. Like he didn’t even want me there. It was the weirdest thing.”

“That is weird,” Aqua says. “He used to be obsessed with you.” Still, her wariness doesn’t fade. It never fully does anymore. “Are you sure it wasn’t a trick?”

“Get this. He was late meeting his friends. One even came to find him. And he _joked around_ with them. He was happy. Really, truly happy.” 

“I’d pay all the munny in the castle treasury to see that,” Aqua murmurs, drawing a chuckle out of Ven. A tiny smile cracks over her face and she reaches forward to rest her hand on Ven’s shoulder. The touch is comforting. At least that hasn’t changed about her. “Why did you go see him?”

Ven shrugs. “Wish I knew.” Aqua pulls away, clearly unsatisfied by his answer. That makes two of them. He tries to offer her some measure of comfort on his own, but he’s never been good with feelings. Any type of feeling.

“I have one more question. Hopefully this will be a little easier for you to answer. Are you going to see him again, Ven?” Aqua asks. He already knows what she hopes the answer will be. That he’ll stay on his side of the universe and be good, his curiosity having been sated for this week. 

She deserves the truth. “I don’t know. Maybe.”

She sighs. Not the answer she hoped for, but probably the one she expected. “Be safe out there when you do, okay? Don’t be afraid to call. I don’t care where this world is. If you need me, I’ll find you.”

Ven smiles at her. “Thanks, Aqua.”

“Let me know if you need anything else,” she says. She ruffles his hair before leaving, careful to shut the door behind her. Ven slumps back in his chair and groans. He feels better, but not as much as he wished he did. 

Vanitas said Shibuya is good at blocking out outside influences. Ven hopes that block extends to the tangled knot of feelings in his chest, too.

* * *

Vanitas haunts Ven’s thoughts like the ghost he isn’t. Trying to forget about him only makes Ven think of him even more. No matter how many runs that turn into sprints Ven forces himself through, or Command Styles Aqua tries to convince him not to attempt because they’re still too complex, Ven can’t tear his thoughts away from Vanitas. 

He tried being distracted by those thoughts. That didn’t work. Dragging himself to the point of exhaustion doesn’t work, either.

He feels like he’s stuck, his mind catching on the same topic again and again with no hope of moving forward.

With nowhere else to go, Ven goes to the one person he knows who likes Vanitas.

He goes to Sora.

It’s easy enough to call him and find a time to meet. Sora’s abandoned any pretense of living the life he did before his world fell. He doesn’t go to school. He still packs like he’s always traveling, one world to another. His Gummi Ship’s engine is always warm.

He’s happy to be back home, but he’s just as happy to run off and visit his other friends whenever he can.

Ven invites him to the Land of Departure. Sora comes on Ven’s next day off.

Riku and Kairi tag along - they usually do, now that Sora’s back - but they’re both content to pepper Terra and Aqua with any question they can think of as long as Sora remains on the same world. Kairi is more than happy to cuddle Chirithy, too. Ven appreciates the relative privacy for what it is.

He takes Sora to the hill where he likes to stargaze. The sun is bright and cheery in the sky, but being so high up has always put Ven at ease. Does Vanitas feel the same? Must be a ton of high places in that city of his. Corridors of darkness would make it so easy to get there. Lucky. 

Ven curls over the ledge, unbothered by the extreme drop below. Sora joins his side easily, unconsciously copying his posture.

“You wanted to talk about something, right?” Sora asks. 

“...Someone,” Ven says quietly.

“Vanitas?”

Ven frowns. “Is it really that obvious?”

Sora hums. “Let’s just say I’m used to it.” What does that even mean? “What about him?”

Well. Sora’s waiting for an answer. Ven tells him about his meeting with Vanitas. He leaves in every detail he can think of, which isn’t hard given how crystallized the memories are at this point. Sora smiles at the names of Vanitas’s friends and laughs at Ven’s interaction with Joshua. Not a single part seems to surprise him.

At the end of it all, Sora flops onto his back, his arms folded behind his head. “Sounds about right! They all got really close after what we went through. Me and Riku not so much, since we were so determined to come back here, but that was their home. They wanted to fight for it with all they had.”

“Sora… what happened in Shibuya?”

“Weeeeeeeell, the world isn’t really Shibuya. I only saw Shibuya, but Riku spent a lot of time in Shinjuku! There are other districts, too. I don’t know anything about them.”

“Sora,” Ven says, trying to get him back on topic.

Sora grins sheepishly. “Sorry. Hmm… I guess the easiest way to explain it is like this. Bad guys showed up, tried to destroy the world as everyone knew it, so we stopped them. Y’know. Nothing we haven’t faced before.”

“Vanitas… Vanitas said you died. That he died, too.”

“Yeah, we kinda did for a while there! That’s why Shibuya is so special. If you win the Game, then you get to come back to life! But it’s only limited to that world, and even then, Games are separated by district.”

“How do you play?”

“So there are Reapers, right? Lots of ‘em. They work for someone called the Composer. They rule over the district and have the power to bring players back to life. Their Reapers send players on missions, one every day for a week, who rush to complete them. Every player gets a partner to help them out. It’s all about trust. Win the Game and you win back your life! It’s simple!”

“And does this usually involve the world almost getting destroyed?”

Sora laughs. “Not usually. That’s why it took so long. Things are fine now, though.”

Ven still doesn’t quite understand what they all went through for nine months straight, or why Vanitas said the day they met was his first day off in that long, but he figures he doesn’t need to know. He’s been through tough events before. He knows what they do to people. How they can strengthen weak bonds and fray ones he once thought were invincible. 

“Neku, Shiki, Beat, Rhyme, Eri… they’re all Vanitas’s closest friends. They’d do anything for him. And he’d do anything for them,” Sora says. “Just like I’d do anything for Riku and Kairi, or you’d do anything for Aqua and Terra.”

“And Joshua?”

Sora chuckles. “Joshua is a little different.”

Ven doesn’t get why, but he’s not sure if Sora would tell him even if he asked. He’s not sure it matters, either.

“I think you and Vanitas could be friends, too. The emotion stuff might be hard at first, but I think you two could really get along!”

“Emotion stuff?” Ven repeats. Is he talking about how bad Ven is at handling his own emotions? How would he know that, even? How would _Vanitas_ know that?

“Yeah! You know. How you can feel what the other feels.”

This is news to Ven. “So that’s what he meant by connected…” Ven murmurs. That makes a lot of sense, now that he thinks about it. Vanitas said the Unversed were made from his negativity, right? Did that include Ven’s negativity as well? Is that why Vanitas always seemed to be able to track him or to know what to say to set him off?

“You… didn’t know?” Sora asks hesitantly. 

“I had no idea,” Ven says, curling his knees up to his chest and wrapping his arms around them. Sora sits up, concerned. Some awful mix of guilt and paranoia washes over him. What would that even be like, anyways? Feeling someone else’s emotions all the time must be exhausting. No wonder Vanitas was so desperate to become one person. He wouldn’t have to feel that way anymore, not when all of him was the same. 

“I don’t know anything about him, Sora. He used to be me, or I used to be him, or whatever, but he’s a total stranger to me,” Ven admits. “It feels wrong. I want to fix it, but it’s not even like I want to talk to him. He’s a jerk. He tried to hurt my friends! Multiple times!”

“But the Vanitas from the real organization isn’t Shibuya’s Vanitas,” Sora says.

“Doesn’t matter. He tried to hurt them before, too.” Ven buries his face in his knees, but he keeps talking. “I don’t get how he could ever be good.”

Sora grows quiet, momentarily contemplative. It only takes a moment before he gasps. “Why don’t you meet his friends! Kairi really wants to meet Shiki and Eri, so you can come with us, too. It’d be perfect! You can ask them about Vanitas!”

Ven glances at Sora uneasily. “Is that really a good idea…?”

“It’ll be great! C’mon, what do you say? Does next week work?”

Ven thinks about it. He really doesn’t know how it’d help anything, but he trusts Sora. That, and if he continues the way he’s going, then he won’t ever stop thinking about Vanitas. If this can help him finally get his thoughts together, then it’s worth a shot.

“Okay,” Ven says. “I’ll meet them.”

Sora whoops.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you've ever watched game of thrones then you probably know that there's an entire season where jon snow wanders around a bunch of mountains while a girl follows him around and hisses "you know NOTHING, jon snow"
> 
> that's basically this fic. you know nothing, ven kingdomhearts

They take Sora’s Gummi Ship to Shibuya. Kairi and Sora decide to drive together, each hanging halfway off the seat and giggling like little kids as they fight over the controls. 

Riku spares Ven a pointed glance at his seatbelt. “You’re going to need that,” he says. He’s firmly buckled into his own seat, straps firmly crossed over his chest and his lap. It looks a little overboard.

“Uh, okay,” Ven says, securing the belt over his lap. The moment the lock clicks in place, Kairi accidentally elbows the main control lever in her efforts to get Sora to give up control and sends the gummi ship spiraling off in circles. Ven’s stomach does uncomfortable flips as they spin over and over. He grips the edges of his seat like it’s his only lifeline.

“Sorry!” Kairi squeaks out once she’s managed to right the ship at the same time that Sora cheers, “Let’s do that again!”

“Let’s never do that again,” Riku says, looking just as queasy as Ven feels. 

The rest of the trip is just that incident, repeated with very slight changes each time.

When they reach the edge of Shibuya, the city skyscrapers peek out over the top of the world. Sora propels the ship forward without so much as a second thought, as if there was nothing keeping them out at all. Whatever barrier that prevented Ven from coming in initially doesn’t even try to stand in Sora’s way. 

They land the ship in a place that Sora and Riku both refer to as just outside the Dead God’s Pad. To Ven, all he sees (and mostly smells) is a sewer. He pinches his nose shut as he follows Sora and the others out of the sewer and into the city proper.

The moment they come onto a main street, the place is flooded with people. Something within Ven shifts uncomfortably. His heart races in his chest. “Where are we meeting them, exactly?” he asks, grimacing at the river of bodies constantly passing in front of them.

“In front of the 104 building,” Riku says. “It’s close.”

“Is it crowded?” Ven asks.

“It’s super popular!” Sora answers cheerfully. Ven takes a shuddering breath. It’ll be okay, really. He can do this. A few crowds are worth the chance to shove these stupid thoughts out of his dumb brain. He has an entire past shrouded in the age of fairy tales to worry about, and yet here he is fixating on a guy he fought over a decade ago. 

Noticing his discomfort (is it really that obvious? Uh-oh), Kairi places a gentle hand on Ven’s arm. “I’m not feeling trendy enough for all these crowds, Sora. Is there somewhere a little quieter where we can meet them?”

Ven shoots her a grateful look, which she returns with a smile. Kairi is pretty amazing. 

Sora and Riku exchange glances. Within seconds, grins appear on their faces - Sora’s stretches from ear to ear, while Riku’s is more subdued. “WildKat,” they say in unison. They set off in tandem, decidedly away from the flow of people. 

Kairi sticks close to Ven’s side, careful to keep her voice low. “Don’t like crowds?”

Ven swallows and nods.

“Me neither,” she says. “I can’t stand it when people bump into me. It’s too scary.”

After what she went through, it’s understandable. 

They take the back alleys of Shibuya. While there are still people, there aren’t enough to make the hairs on the back of Ven’s neck stand on end. It’s kind of nice, actually. Probably about as peaceful as a city this big can ever get. 

The buildings in this part of Shibuya aren’t tall enough to box Ven in like other parts of the city. He's happy to follow behind the others into a small cafe. A lanky man greets them with a lazy grin from the counter, but Ven’s attention is quickly ripped away from him and towards the group of teenagers crowded around a large table at the back, all shouting Sora and Riku’s name.

There are five of them: three girls, two boys. Ven recognizes Shiki easily, the stuffed black cat he saw her holding last time sitting on the table right in front of her. The girl next to her plays with its tail with one hand tipped with colorful nails and waves them over with the other. 

“Oh my gosh, is this her?” the girl asks, looking right at Kairi. “Sora, Riku, is this Kairi? She’s so cute!”

Kairi giggles, looking away. “Thanks.”

“And what about the other cutie?” she asks, pink eyes settling on Ven. They’re bright, full of energy and life. They match the wisps of hair that trail down her back and frame her face, poking out from under an oversized newsboy cap.

There’s something powerful about this girl.

“He looks familiar…” Shiki says, trailing off. Ven hopes that she won’t remember why.

“Oh, this is my other friend!” Sora says. “Meet Ven!”

“Ven?” One of the boys echoes. He folds his arms over his chest and leans back in his seat, suddenly wary. Blue eyes narrow at him, a sharp contrast to the shock of orange spikes on his head. He has a wiry frame, though it’s one laced with apprehension. “That’s a nickname, right? Short for _Ventus?”_

He spits Ven’s name like poison. Ven’s eyes widen and he takes a step back. 

“Yo, this fool is Ventus!?” shouts the boy next to him. His hands slam on the table, biceps straining as he pushes himself up. Even the black beanie covering tufts of his blond hair, emblazoned with a skull on the front, seems to glare at him.

Worry flashes over Sora’s face. “Neku, Beat, it’s not what you think-”

“Shut it, Sora,” Neku snaps, cutting him off. “I’ve heard about you, _Ventus._ We all have.”

The air grows tense. A fight waiting to happen.

If these are Vanitas’s friends, then…

“Get out of this city before we kick you out,” Neku says.

“Guys, Ven isn’t here to fight Vanitas,” Riku begins, hands up in a placating gesture. Ven is sent reeling once again. Nothing in this world makes any sense to him. How could they be looking at him like… like _he’s_ the bad one?

Sora nods fervently next to him. “Yeah, what Riku said!”

“Don’t care. He wasn’t part of the plan,” Neku says, resolute. 

Eri’s earlier teasing friendliness is gone. She doesn’t glare at Ven the same way Neku and Beat do, but there’s no trust in her eyes. “I’m all for meeting new people… just not ones that hurt my friends.”

“Ven’s good,” Kairi pipes up. “He’s friendly and kind and-”

“-Makes Vanitas suffer just by existing in the same place as him,” Shiki finishes. “We know the story. If we have to pick between the two, then we’ve already made our choice.”

“What are you all _talking_ about!?” Ven finally shouts. He’s so confused. Angry, too, and frustrated and so many other emotions that they’ve all knotted into an awful ball inside his chest. Is any of this coming from Vanitas, or are all of these solely from Ven? Is Vanitas somewhere on this world, laughing at him right now for feeling this bad? He doesn’t know. He’s never known.

“I’ll make it simple for ya, punk,” Beat says. He looks ready to stalk over to Ven and throttle him, but a small hand wraps around his wrist and keeps him in place. “Get. _Out._ ”

Finally, the only person who hasn’t spoken up yet does. She’s the one reigning Beat in. She’s clearly several years younger than the rest of the group, but she carries herself with a maturity that most of the group doesn’t. “Wait!” she says. “Has anyone actually asked Vanitas what he feels about Ven being here?”

“It’s a Game week,” Neku shoots back. “You know that just as well as I do, Rhyme. He has other things to focus on.”

“Yeah, like not getting erased!” Eri pipes up. Erased? What does that mean?

An’ how the hell’s he gonna focus on that wit’chu runnin’ around!?” Beat demands.

“I-” Ven begins, but he can barely stammer out a defense for himself before Neku pins Sora in place with a glare.

“Did you think about any of this before bringing him here, Sora?” he asks. Sora stammers out a response that equals a resounding no. Neku doesn’t direct his anger at him, not really, but it’s clear that he still isn’t happy. He doesn’t seem the type to back down.

Neither is Sora. 

Normally, neither is Ven. As curious as he is about these people, there’s only one reason why he wanted to meet them in the first place. Ven’s seen enough. “Guys, it’s okay. I get it. I’ll leave.”

“Are you sure?” Kairi whispers to him, careful to keep the others from hearing. “Sora said you came here for answers.”

He kind of did get an answer, though, and all but one of them is watching him like they’d be happy to beat him to a pulp this instant. He knows this protective fury. It’s the same Aqua wears for himself and Terra.

These people all love Vanitas dearly.

“I think I’ll be good,” Ven whispers back. He looks at Vanitas’s friends. He’s unsure which one to make eye contact with, but his eyes eventually settle on Shiki. She was the one to get Vanitas, after all. “Um. Sorry. About this.”

She blinks, wide-eyed behind her glasses. At a clear loss for words.

“I’ll see you later, Sora,” Ven says, ducking out of the cafe. He can feel the man behind the counter’s eyes on him as he leaves. That’s what he gets for making a spectacle.

At least when he finally exits the place, the street is practically empty. Save for a couple disappearing into a nearby store, he’s alone. Makes it easier to leave that way.

He engages his armor, the bright light momentarily obscuring his view. When it clears, _he_ stands in front of Ven. Same outfit as before, but the red bandana is already tugged below his mouth, giving Ven a full view of his frown.

“Ventus,” Vanitas says. “You feel like garbage. As much as I’d love to revel in that, it’s kind of distracting.”

That’s right. Vanitas can feel what Ven feels. All that does is deepen Ven’s shame - he really _doesn’t_ know anything, does he. 

Vanitas’s frown deepens in tandem. “Can you quit it?”

“Quit what?”

“Feeling that way.”

Despite everything, that makes Ven crack a grin. Vanitas’s frown lessens, but only a little. Still negative, just not as negative as before. “Good. I can think again,” Vanitas says, rubbing his temples. “Care to tell me why you’re back? Is your perfect little castle with your perfect little friends too boring for you?”

Is there a point in being anything but honest, if Vanitas can feel what Ven does? He’d know if Ven was lying. 

“You can either spit it out or you can leave, Ventus. I’ll chase you off this world if I have to,” Vanitas says, his impatience shining through.

Ven has a half a mind to fling his Keyblade at Vanitas just to get him to shut up. He doesn’t though. He uses his words. “I… I came with Sora.” That gets Vanitas’s attention - he perks up, red eyes bright with interest. He glances around - looking for Sora, maybe. That interest turns wary when Sora’s nowhere to be found. 

“Then where is Sora?”

Ven gestures inside. “With your friends. They weren’t happy to see me.”

Vanitas laughs, the same unhinged sound as before. “How’s it feel to know that real people think you’re a freak, Ventus? Not good, is it?” There’s something loaded in that word. Freak. Ven wonders what the story is there, but he also knows that there’s no way he’ll get it out of Vanitas.

He answers the question instead. “It feels awful.”

“Want to know how to solve it?” Ven looks at him, trying his hardest not to hope for something halfway decent, but hoping anyways. “Leave, and stay on your side of the universe. For good.”

“What’s with you!?” Ven asks. “You were obsessed with me before! All you ever wanted to do was join with me! Make us one person and forge your… your stupid X-blade!” 

Something impossibly dark flashes over Vanitas’s face. Red eyes latch onto him, freezing him in place. A shiver goes down his back. A bad one.

Then those red eyes are just inches away from Ven’s own, pure hatred boiling Ven alive. As strange as it may be, that fact alone gives Ven some comfort. For all that’s changed, Vanitas’s hatred hasn’t. 

He can understand hatred. 

He can’t understand apathy.

Vanitas’s hands claw into his shoulders, pinning him against the side of the cafe. Just out of sight of the closest window. “Do you really want to know _what’s with me,_ Ventus? I’ll tell you what’s with me.” His voice is barely more than a whisper. It carries more of a threat than a scream ever could. “You have everything you could have ever dreamed of. Your precious friends who would tear apart the world order for you, and did. Your cute dream of becoming a Keyblade Master, restarted the moment you woke up from your nice little nap. You get to be blissfully stupid enough to forget the _hell_ that Xehanort put you through. The hell that _I_ had to suffer through for four more years, all while you got to be babied in paradise. And worst of all, you get to galavant around any world you want wearing _my stolen body_ and _my stolen face!_ But because you’re the cute little Ventus they all know, nobody but me sees you as the thief you are. _I_ was Ventus, not you. You’re nothing but a shell.”

Vanitas lets go of him, but Ven stays pressed to the wall. His throat closes. All he can do is watch. Wait.

Vanitas digs his hands into his own hair and pulls enough for it to look painful. Like he’s trying to tear himself apart. He laughs again, just as unhinged as always. “And just when I’m finally starting to accept that I’ll never get back what was stolen from me, you come in here and try to steal this, too. Is it on purpose, Ventus? Couldn’t stand to know I was happy?”

Ven shakes his head. Against his better judgement, he comes closer to Vanitas, close enough to reach out and touch him if he wanted to. He forces himself to speak. “I just wanted to understand you,” Ven says softly. “I’m not trying to steal anything. I’m sorry.”

Vanitas snorts. “Sorry doesn’t change anything.”

“How was I supposed to know?”

For that, Vanitas doesn’t have an answer. All they have is this: glaring at each other, like it’ll solve anything.

“Why aren’t you trying to join with me, then? If I stole everything from you?” Ven asks.

“I couldn’t even if I tried. Not anymore.”

Because the X-blade is destroyed? Or because of something else? 

Ven thinks back to what the other Vanitas said before he faded away. He was resigned to being nothing but Ven’s shadow. Something to make him shine brighter, to take away the nasty parts of Ven that must have existed back when they were the same person.

He wonders, not for the first time, what that Ven was like. Is Vanitas really closer to who he - who they - used to be? There are still so many questions and so few answers. The only person who could ever hope to answer them is the person standing in front of him.

Even if Vanitas doesn’t want him around, Ven has to know. All that this past year has proved to him is how little he truly knows about himself. Maybe… maybe Vanitas is right. He really is a shell. Even Chirithy can see it. It won’t say it out loud, but he knows he isn’t the Ven it missed. Not really.

“I’ll leave this time, but I want to come back,” Ven says. Vanitas’s Keyblade materializes in his hand and he aims a swipe at Ven’s head. Wayward Wind shimmers to life and Ven blocks the strike just before it slams into his temple.

Vanitas unleashes a Dark Firaga at his chest; Ven blocks it just before it connects. Vanitas snorts and lets his Keyblade fade away. “Why? So you can steal this world from me too? Why don’t you take my job, while you’re at it?”

Ven shakes his head. “I don’t want your job. I just want to see you again.”

That gets his attention. Ven doesn’t need to feel Vanitas’s emotions to know that he’s shocked. He can tell from his face.

“I won’t stay here forever. Your friends are all inside this cafe with Sora, Riku, and Kairi. They’d love to see you. I could tell. Just… let me come back. Please,” Ven says. Against his better judgement, he hopes for a yes. 

Things don’t usually work out the way Ven wants them to.

“No,” Vanitas says. Void Gear re-materializes in his hand. A clear threat, though Vanitas even takes a step away from Ven as he does so. “Come back here again and I’ll beat you so thoroughly that you won’t be able to leave your precious castle for months.”

That does it. Ven can’t keep a hold on his temper. “Like you could! Remember who won last time?” 

That was the wrong thing to say, given the way Vanitas attempts to drive his Keyblade into Ven’s throat. He dodges just in time, unwilling to give in. There’s no other choice but to fight back, so Ven brings his Keyblade against Vanitas’s. The clash of metal on metal rings in the air.

The answers Ven wants don’t lay at the tip of a Keyblade. Yet, as they trade blows back and forth, neither one ever gaining over the other, this may be the best Ven can hope for.


End file.
